Learning to play a musical instrument can be a difficult and challenging process. Almost all beginner guitar students find learning to play Barre chords, for example, physically difficult in that the strings dig into the joints and the softer parts of the first finger. After overcoming the physical difficulty, remembering the location of the chords and notes can be ever more challenging. Most students find this stage of instruction the most frustrating and as a result many students quit.
A number of devices have been developed to assist in teaching music. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,572,205; 3,748,947; 4,175,468; 4,537,111. However, most of these devices are complex in construction, difficult to utilize and understand, and much to expensive for the beginner music student. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,499 uses a guitar having a grid system of lights that illuminate when a certain note or chord is hit.
There exists, therefore, a significant need for a versatile system for instructing note and chord finger placement on a stringed instrument that can be easily utilized by beginner students. Additionally, an improved teaching system is needed that can be easily attached and removed from the instrument without causing damage. Moreover, such an improved music teaching system should allow beginner students to learn note and chord finger placement quickly so that they will continually improve and remain interested. The present invention fulfills these needs in a relatively inexpensive fashion, and provides further related advantages as described below.